Preschool, the UK and Trifle

Last week I was teaching my little ones about the UK. Ok so really I was just exposing them to the idea that there are different places all over the world, but whatever, right? Anyway, we talked about the UK. I showed them a map of the UK and we colored the flag.

We discussed the idea that Great Britain has a Queen.

I taught them the poem “Pussy cat Pussy cat where have you been?” which we acted out on the flannelboard.

The culminating event to all things UK was making TRIFLE!! My kids love food, and any project that contains food is always a winner so it was a no brainer when I decided to make trifle. Trifle is really easy to make, difficult to mess up and so fun to eat!

Here’s the recipe I used:

cake: you can buy a store cake or make your own. i made my own because one child has egg allergies and I substituted applesauce for the egg

fruit: i used fresh strawberries but you could really use anything. I believe true trifle is actually made with jelly.

vanilla pudding, premade

Reddiwhip (the kind that squirts out of the can); i think Coolwhip or similar could also work

So here’s what we did. First, we put a layer of cake in the bottom of a glass bowl.

Then the children each put a container of vanilla pudding on top.

Looks yummy already, non? Each child was allowed to take their “empty” pudding container back to their seat to eat it the remaining pudding. This was an accidental but INGENIOUS idea cuz it kept them from begging for another turn. SCORE!

After the pudding (note to self: next time make sure you have pudding for EVERYONE. two children didnt get to put the pudding on and almost had a meltdown) came the whipped cream!

This lucky little guy was afraid of the can at first then as you can see, he grabbed it and attacked his job like a seasoned machinist!

Pam is an educator librarian who is drawn to the little ones. In her purse you’ll find a cup of coffee, a book, and her iPhone. She loves social media, writing book reviews, and curating children’s literature. She is an information specialist, maven, connector, coffee drinker.